Reagan National Lifts Private-Plane Ban

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The loudest applause for Wednesday's announcement that Reagan National Airport will be open to private planes came from people most likely to use Washington's most convenient runways.

The airport, just a few miles from the Capitol and the White House, has been closed to private planes since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Ed Bolen, president of the National Business Aviation Association, characterized the typical private user of the airport as someone in business with ''important interests on Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, the executive branch and downtown companies.''

Added Rep. Harold Rogers, R-KY: ''It's a very important aspect of American political life.''

''We are ecstatic,'' said James Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association.

Only people who can afford to comply with the strict security rules are expected to fly aboard private planes into the airport.

Washington's congressional delegate, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, said the restrictions were ''needlessly cumbersome.''

She said the only flights that can realistically be expected to use the airport will be corporate jets, which will have to stop at regional airports and take on an armed law enforcement officer.

''We must not let these unnecessary restrictions become permanent,'' she said.

Only four flights an hour for 12 hours during the day will be allowed to use the airport. Flight crews must have fingerprint-based background checks and the law enforcement officers will be trained and licensed by the Transportation Security Administration.

The agency's chief, David Stone, said the restrictions could be loosened next year.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-MA, questioned whether new security risks would be created by opening the airport to private planes. In the past few weeks, fighter jets were scrambled several times to intercept planes that strayed into Washington's restricted airspace.

''We should be spending our homeland security resources on more pressing issues,'' Markey said in a statement. ''Today's misguided decision puts convenience for a few above commonsense security concerns.''

Gerald Leone, a managing director of Vance, a Washington-area security consulting firm, wondered whether the terrorist threat has lessened since Sept. 11, 2001.

''What is it about the risks and vulnerabilities now that cause us reason to believe that the safety risks have been minimized?'' he asked.

Stone said it took a long time for government agencies to agree on a plan.

The rules will allow private planes to fly into Reagan National from 12 airports: Seattle-Tacoma; Boston Logan; Houston Hobby; White Plains, NY; LaGuardia, NY; Chicago Midway; Minneapolis/St.Paul; West Palm Beach, FL; San Francisco; Teterboro, NJ; Philadelphia; and Lexington, KY.